AN anecdote I heard sometime ago taught me the lesson that charity should never be dry and cold, but rather warm, full of affection. It was about a nun who got sick and stayed in bed for days in the convent. When asked how she...
THAT’S the attitude to develop and to have in this life where we can expect undesirable things to come our way. Yes, there are options we make that in spite of our best efforts, turn out to be wrong in the end. And there will...
Ash Wednesday (March 5) marks the beginning of the Lenten season, which continues until April 17 (Holy Thursday) before the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This leads us into the Easter Triduum, commemorating three key events: 1. The Passion and Death, 2. The Burial,...
(An excerpt of the homily of the Most Reverend Romulo G. Valles D.D. during during Misa Pasasalamat for the 88th Araw ng Dabaw last March 1, 2025 at the San Pedro Cathedral Parish.) We have so much blessings in Davao that every opportunity like today, as...
OBVIOUSLY, the thing to do is to immediately go to Christ who will show us and empower us with the proper way to deal with the many temptations in our life. We should never just be by ourselves when these temptations come, thinking that we...
THIS danger is illustrated in that gospel episode where “the disciples of John approached Jesus and said, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” (Mt 9,14) And Christ simply responded: “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the...
AS we are in this Jubilee Year of Hope, we need to be clarified about the true character of this particular gift from God which we have to duly receive and act on, making it an abiding virtue in us. Given our condition of pilgrim...
THAT is the message of the gospel reading for Ash Wednesday. (cfr. Mt 6,1-6.16-18) “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them,” Christ said, “otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.” Then he continued by describing...
THIS is what Christ proposed to his disciples, and now to us. We need to be poor, to be detached from earthly things, so we can be filled with what truly enriches us. (cfr. Mk 10,28-31) “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who...
LET’S use some legal jargon to bring out the truth of our faith about how Our Lady can help us to be docile to the Holy Spirit. Whereas, God always intervenes in our life through Christ in the Spirit because he is our Creator and Father...